OSF HealthCare Opens Specialized Simulation Space in Chicago

Dr. John Vozenilek, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Simulation at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center poses with a manikin in the OSF Simulation Stage.

The OSF Simulation Stage at MATTER in Chicago

OSF HealthCare in partnership with MATTER, a Chicago-based incubator for health care entrepreneurs, announced the launch of The OSF Simulation Stage at MATTER, a flexible simulation space to test early-stage health care solutions. About 150 guests attended the opening of the facility in Chicago Tuesday, September 6, 2016.

The OSF Stage has been under development since OSF became a founding member of MATTER in November, 2014. It’s approximately the size of a hospital room and can be turned into a variety of clinical settings including an ICU, cath lab or procedure room. The OSF Stage allows health care innovators within MATTER to test their products in a realistic clinical environment, giving them a better understanding of how health care is delivered and how their concepts might impact care.

“The friction involved in bringing new healthcare technologies to market is immense,” said John Vozenilek, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Simulation at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center. “It’s even more difficult for early-stage innovators to navigate the health care system to secure crucial pilots and gain direct feedback. The OSF Simulation Stage at MATTER eliminates this friction by accelerating the testing process and paving the way for outside evaluation to shape new ideas, leading to rapid iterations of innovative products.”

“Since MATTER opened last year, we have heard from startups and innovators that they want greater access to clinical environments in which to develop ideas and test prototypes,” said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. "The OSF Simulation Stage at MATTER gives them this environment and is designed to be highly flexible and adaptable to a variety of situational challenges.”

The OSF Simulation Stage at MATTER is the second specialty environment that MATTER has designed to facilitate connection and collaboration between entrepreneurs and clinicians to advance health care. Previously, MATTER introduced the AMA Interaction Studio, in partnership with the American Medical Association that provides an interactive environment for entrepreneurs and physicians to engage one another early on in the development of new solutions.